Publications by authors named "Willemssen F"

Purpose/objectives: To evaluate if stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a durable effect on tumor control and can be delivered safely.

Materials/methods: Patients included in this retrospective study have been treated at our institution from January 2008 to December 2022. Eligibility criteria were diagnosis of HCC, BCLC stage 0-A-B, non-cirrhotic liver or liver with cirrhosis Child-Pugh class A, and a maximum of three lesions with a cumulative diameter of ≤ 6 cm.

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Aim: To investigate the utilization of MRI using a MRI liver protocol with extracellular contrast-enhanced series for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance in high-risk patients.

Methods: Consecutive high-risk patients of a western European cohort who underwent repeated liver MRI for HCC screening were included. Lesions were registered according to the Liver Reporting & Data System (LIRADS) 2018.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the imaging characteristics in gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI that differentiate focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) from hepatocellular adenoma and carcinoma (HCA/HCC), particularly focusing on hyper- or isointensity observed in the hepatobiliary phase.
  • Researchers analyzed data from 124 patients with pathology-proven FNH or HCA/HCC, finding unique imaging traits such as specific patterns and fat content that help distinguish between these liver conditions.
  • The results suggest that if certain imaging characteristics indicative of HCA/HCC are present, further evaluation should be conducted to rule out B-catenin-activated HCA, especially when lesions show high levels of hyper- or isointensity.
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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) comprises 75 to 85% of all primary liver cancers. Current guidelines recommend a biannual HCC surveillance using ultrasound (US) for high-risk patients. However, due to its low sensitivity for detection of early-stage HCC lesions, there is an urgency for more sensitive surveillance tools.

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Background: Guidelines are inconclusive on whether contrast-enhanced MRI using gadoxetic acid and diffusion-weighted imaging should be added routinely to CT in the investigation of patients with colorectal liver metastases who are scheduled for curative liver resection or thermal ablation, or both. Although contrast-enhanced MRI is reportedly superior than contrast-enhanced CT in the detection and characterisation of colorectal liver metastases, its effect on clinical patient management is unknown. We aimed to assess the clinical effect of an additional liver contrast-enhanced MRI on local treatment plan in patients with colorectal liver metastases amenable to local treatment, based on contrast-enhanced CT.

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Background And Aims: For a highly selected group of patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA), liver transplantation (LT) is a treatment option. The Dutch screening protocol comprises nonregional lymph node (LN) assessment by EUS, and whenever LN metastases are identified, further LT screening is precluded. The aim of this study is to investigate the yield of EUS in patients with pCCA who are potentially eligible for LT.

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Purpose: To compare transarterial chemoembolization delivered with drug eluting beads (TACE-DEB) with stereotactioc body radiation therapy (SBRT) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a multicenter randomized trial.

Methods And Materials: Patients were included if they were eligible for TACE. They could also be recruited if they required treatment prior to liver transplantation.

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Purpose: To evaluate NC-AMRI for the detection of HCC in high-risk patients.

Methods: Patients who underwent yearly contrast-enhanced MRI (i.e.

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Background: The patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma require biliary drainage to relieve symptoms and allow for palliative systemic chemotherapy. The aim of this study was to establish the success, complication, and mortality rates of the initial biliary drainage in patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma at presentation.

Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent initial endoscopic or percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage between 2002 and 2014 were included.

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Treatment planning of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) includes distinguishing GISTs from other intra-abdominal tumors and GISTs' molecular analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate radiomics for distinguishing GISTs from other intra-abdominal tumors, and in GISTs, predict the c-KIT, PDGFRA, BRAF mutational status, and mitotic index (MI). Patients diagnosed at the Erasmus MC between 2004 and 2017, with GIST or non-GIST intra-abdominal tumors and a contrast-enhanced venous-phase CT, were retrospectively included.

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Background: Abdominal computed tomography (CT) is the standard imaging method for patients with suspected colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) in the diagnostic workup for surgery or thermal ablation. Diffusion-weighted and gadoxetic-acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver is increasingly used to improve the detection rate and characterization of liver lesions. MRI is superior in detection and characterization of CRLM as compared to CT.

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Histopathological growth patterns (HGPs) are independent prognosticators for colorectal liver metastases (CRLM). Currently, HGPs are determined postoperatively. In this study, we evaluated radiomics for preoperative prediction of HGPs on computed tomography (CT), and its robustness to segmentation and acquisition variations.

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Background: In unresectable pCCA, the standard of care is palliative chemotherapy. We investigated the feasibility and safety of adding stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) after chemotherapy.

Methods: Patients with unresectable pCCA, stage T1-T4N0-N1M0, ECOG 0-1, having finished 6-8 cycles of cisplatin and gemcitabine without disease progression were eligible.

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Background: Biliary Cystadenomas (BCA) are considered to be benign but may transform to Biliary Cystadenocarcinomas (BCAC). The aim of this systematic review was to assess the diagnostic work-up and necessity of complete surgical resection.

Method: A systematic literature search was performed in Embase.

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Background: The aim was to compare the prognostic accuracy of cross-sectional imaging of the 7th and 8th editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer(AJCC) staging system for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma(PHC).

Methods: All patients with PHC between 2002 and 2014 were included. Imaging at the time of presentation was reassessed and clinical tumor-node-metastasis (cTNM) stage was determined according to the 7th and 8th editions of the AJCC staging system.

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Introduction: For patients with perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), surgery is the only treatment modality that can result in cure. Unfortunately, in the majority of these patients, the tumours are found to be unresectable at presentation due to either local invasive tumour growth or the presence of distant metastases. For patients with unresectable CCA, palliative chemotherapy is the standard treatment yielding an estimated median overall survival (OS) of 12-15.

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Background: Current imaging guidelines do not specify the preferred hepatobiliary contrast agent when differentiating hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) from focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) on MRI.

Purpose: To analyze intrapatient differences in the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) after use of both gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) and gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI to differentiate HCA from FNH.

Study Type: Retrospective.

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Background: Patients with resectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) on imaging have a substantial risk of metastatic or locally advanced disease, incomplete (R1) resection, and 90-day mortality. Our aim was to develop a preoperative prognostic model to predict surgical success, defined as a complete (R0) resection without 90-day mortality, in patients with resectable PHC on imaging.

Study Design: Patients with PHC who underwent exploratory laparotomy in three tertiary referral centers were identified.

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Article Synopsis
  • Low skeletal muscle mass is linked to poorer outcomes after surgery for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC), and this study aimed to assess the impact of muscle mass and density on overall survival (OS) in PHC patients.
  • Data from 233 patients diagnosed with PHC between 2002 and 2014 were analyzed, comparing OS based on muscle mass and density measured via CT scans.
  • The results indicated that while low skeletal muscle mass did not significantly affect OS, low muscle density was associated with a higher risk of early death within the first 6 months after diagnosis.
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Background And Purpose: The TRENDY trial is an international multi-center phase-II study, randomizing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients between transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) with a target dose of 48-54 Gy in six fractions. The radiotherapy quality assurance (QA) program, including prospective plan feedback based on automated treatment planning, is described and results are reported.

Materials And Methods: Scans of a single patient were used as a benchmark case.

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Background: Although several classifications of perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) include vascular involvement, its prognostic value has not been investigated. Our aim was to assess the prognostic value of unilateral and main/bilateral involvement of the portal vein (PV) and hepatic artery (HA) on imaging in patients with PHC.

Methods: All patients with PHC between 2002 and 2014 were included regardless of stage or management.

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Background: Conditional survival is the life expectancy from a point in time for a patient who has survived a specific period after presentation. The aim of the study was to estimate conditional survival for patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods: Patients with unresectable perihilar cholangiocarcinoma from two academic hospitals in the Netherlands between 2002 and 2012 were assessed.

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Liver transplantation is the only effective treatment for end-stage liver disease, but absolute donor shortage remains a limiting factor. Recent advances in tissue engineering focus on generation of native extracellular matrix (ECM) by decellularized complete livers in animal models. Although proof of concept has been reported for human livers, this study aims to perform whole liver decellularization in a clinically relevant series using controlled machine perfusion.

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Background & Aims: Most systems for staging perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PHC) have been developed for the minority of patients with resectable disease. The recently developed Mayo Clinic system for staging PHC requires only clinical and radiologic variables, but has not yet been validated. We performed a retrospective study to validate the Mayo Clinic staging system.

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